Thornton (knee) won't be protected from Wednesday's NHL expansion draft, TSN reports.

EDGE Analysis

It's not a huge surprise that the Sharks are willing to roll the dice with Thornton given his age and the fact that he's coming off a major knee injury that included both ACL and MCL tears during the playoffs. He also doesn't have a contract for the 2017-18 season at this point, so Vegas would have to negotiate a new deal with him in the next week to make it an option. Given some of the other options available from San Jose, the Golden Knights will almost certainly pass on him in favor of a younger, healthier body from the Sharks.